Sometimes it just easier to do it yourself! (Agents working together to get the deal closed)

You go the extra mile for your clients!

Hi Todd, Great post illustrating how agents can work together to get it to a successful closing table.  Well done !

Good work.

Todd, I have been down that road too.  I have worked with sellers here and there physically to help get the place ready for closing.  One time I helped a seller rug scrub the whole house with the owners, it was an estate and the heirs were still dealing with their lose and had a hard time going to the property let alone going inside and working on it. 

I just want to provide a little perspective for those of you wondering why an underwriter would raise such an issue.

Most loans are underwritten to the standard needed for sale in the secondary market.  The investors who buy these loans dictate the standards to which they are underwritten.  Before these loans are purchased, they are scrutinized by the investor and loans that do not meet the standard are not purchased.  In addition, the investor may return a non performing loan (ie foreclosed home loan) to the lending institution if the requirements were not met; this could be years down the road.  This is known as a "buy back".  Underwriters are rated based upon the performance of their portfolio and thus will pass this headache down to the seller.

Thanks for understanding and helping get the sale and financing done!

Love that kind of teamwork when everyone jumps in to help!

ABSOLUTELY AGREE!  I am so happy there are so many others who feel & do likewise!  Sometimes you wonder, "is it just me?  Am I the only one out here taking care of these crazy little details to make sure a deal holds together??"   Of course there are lines that should not be crossed, but helping fix some minor issues - that the buyer doesn't even care about - is exactly what we find ourselves doing nowadays.  The wheels of the market are squeaky enough, and the deals are hard enough to put together - if it takes a little elbow grease to get them finalized = so be it!  Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!

Now there's two professionals working towards a common goal.  Way to go!

Good job.

I agree with you and probably would have done the same thing.  However, it is lawyers and government regulators that make common sense so hard these days.  Probably some issue some where on this.

Time to be looking for a new lender, I WOULD SAY. That is in a word, Ridiculous.

The pendulum has swung so far the other way from the way lenders were working (and eventually caused some of the problems we now face) that one can only hope that a sense of balance is coming.

Good for you, Todd and the other agent for saving the day!!

Congrats on the well-deserved Daily Drop.

I have to bring up the other side of the issue here that no one seems to realize.

You are stepping into a world of potential liability issues when you start pointing things out like an inspector, or fixing things like a handyman. When you act outside your role as a real estate broker, or agent, and are doing more than giving people professional real estate advice, you can be potentially held to that standard. You are most likely not trained, licensed, or credentialed to be an inspector, handyman, mold remover, or whatever. Say one wrong thing, do one thing wrong, or make a mistake and your career could end, and you can put your entire family's financial future in jeopardy.  E+O insurance doesnt cover you here folks.

Although David #27 has the right idea, there really isnt a line between tightening a screw and repairing a leaky roof, and you cant just draw one where you want.

Once you start pointing out "inspection issues" and your clients are deemed to rely on that, you can be held to the standard of the inspector. What if you missed something? You can potentially be held liable. Once you start making home repairs, you can be held to the standard of the repairman. What if you dont fix everything that needed to be fixed? Should it be repaired or replaced? Are you an expert there? Again you opening that Pandora's box of unknowns, and nothing in that box is good for you. Dont do it!

We all want to be HEROS for our clients, that is one thing that makes this job so great, but doing the right thing and doing the smart thing isnt always the exact same thing.

Although I agree with the common sense argument, we unfortunately live in a litigious laden society where everyone wants to blame someone else and be compensated ~ so lets all be smarter and protect ourselves and our livelihoods.

Is saving your client $150 dollars potentially worth your license? You can probably get away with tightening a screw 99 out of 100 times, but the 1 time you dont get away with it, you are done. Game over. Become a lender. Go sell cars.

My suggestion, always have a professional contractor/handyman do any work. Have them install the Carbon Monoxide detector, have them remove the mold, paint the paint, tighten the screw, and fix the roof. Use a professional experienced contractor, who will probably even warranty their work in most cases.

If you want to be the HERO to your client, pay the $150. 

Be your client's REALTOR, be their expert on all real estate matters, be their source into your network of contacts, but dont be their inspector, dont be their handyman.

Agreed, you're lucky you were 'paired up' with someone such as yourself.  Great story that actually saved the day.

Todd, great job on getting the issues resolved and working with the other agent. That's a story with a happy ending. Kudos.

Wow, those seem like very small issues for an underwriter to worry about, but nice that you could get it done and keep the deal going smoothly. -Kasey

Todd ~ I so agree with you.  Appraisers can freak out on some silly stuff and it's just easier at times to just do the work yourself.

I know it is not our job, but sometimes doing these little things add up to big thank yous.

Yes, I've read the lender's view, as well as Jayson (#45), but you do have to wonder...moss? Really?

I'm half surprised the buyer & seller didn't show up to help with the project. 

Perhaps you can bring the rest of the moss killer to closing as a closing gift.  Surely, you'll get a laugh.

We as Real Estate agents play many important roles in clients home selling/buying experience. Therapist, confidant, friend, consultant, cleaner, assistant, sometimes painter. We always there to problem solve and if the problem is within our ability to resolve it, it is always resolved.